1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to improvements to wheeled hand trucks and particularly to a wheeled tire truck adapted for handling and transporting rim-mounted tires during installation or removal of tires for vehicles.
2. Description of Related Art
Anyone who has changed a flat tire on an automobile recognizes how awkward it is to install a rim-mounted tire onto the axle hub located beneath the fender of a vehicle. The installer must lift the weight of the rim and tire while simultaneously aligning the lug bolts on the hub with matching holes in the rim. Only then can the tire be engaged with the lugs and nuts installed to secure the rim to the axle. If the installer has no manipulating tools to assist him, he must perform these activities while reaching under the fender and supporting the rim and tire at arms length, promising him at best soiled clothing and threatening injuries.
Rim-mounted tires for large trucks or tractors offer even greater challenges because of their greater weight. Some rim-mounted truck tires weigh in excess of two hundred pounds, making them almost impossible to lift by hand in such awkward circumstances, while tractor tires generally are too heavy to lift by hand at all. Further, tandem or dual wheels on larger trucks require installation and removal of tires recessed much farther beneath the fender than on conventional automobiles. A need exists for a tire manipulating device which facilitates installation and removal of wheel-mounted tires for large trucks.
Truck and tractor tires can be a challenge just to lift off the floor and to stand upright on their treads for relocation. Conventional practice dictates that a lever bar be inserted beneath the sidewall of the tire and lifting pressure applied to the handle end of the lever to lift one side of the tire off the floor. The operator then repeatedly must support the weight of the inclined tire while he resets the lever to lift the tire farther, thereby ratcheting the side of the tire upward until the tire stands upright on its tread. During this activity, the operator must laterally control the weight of the rim and tire to prevent it from rolling off the lever bar. If the operator loses control of a heavy truck or tractor tire during this activity, he must dodge away and let the tire fall back to the floor or risk back or leg strain trying to manhandle the tire without the lever for assistance. A need exists for a safer method and apparatus for lifting heavy, rim-mounted tires.
Once a heavy truck or tractor tire has been lifted into a position resting upon its tread, it can be rolled into place for installation onto a vehicle. At the vehicle fender, however, space for rolling it back and forth while working it toward the axle hub is restricted, requiring a series of very short rolling operations alternately turning the tire to direct its progress in the desired direction. The same activity is required during removal of the tire. As the tire progresses toward the axle hub during installation, the operator must reach farther and farther under the fender to support and manipulate the tire or crawl under the fender with it. The latter option is especially hazardous because the space is constricted, causing the operator to crouch in an awkward position and increasing the risk of injury and of losing control of the tire. A need exists for a device to assist in translating a truck or tractor tire beneath a vehicle fender for installation onto the axle hub and for removal.